Impossible
by LyraMaeArcher
Summary: He thought that after all these years, it would be easier. But here they stood, less than a few feet apart on this rooftop bathed in the soft glow of a giant moon, eyes trained on each other without words. "I love you, Ladybug. I always have - you know that." - A LadyNoir Confession
1. Chapter 1

He thought that after all these years, it would be easier. But here they stood, less than a few feet apart on this rooftop bathed in the soft glow of a giant moon, eyes trained on each other without words.

"I love you, Ladybug. I always have - you know that." The words were thick, heavy, trying to choke him, barely more than a whisper. A flash of pain passed through her eyes before she couldn't return his gaze anymore, instead choosing to stare at the ground between them.

"Chat, I-" Emotion cut her off, and she turned away, hand on her yo-yo, ready to run. His hand on her wrist stopped her.

"I know you love me." It wasn't an accusation or boastfulness, it was the truth. They both knew it, even if it had never been said. "Please stop running away from me." Her shoulders hunched as she tried to curl into herself, hiding. She didn't move other than that slight change and, for one moment, hope filled him. Maybe this time. Maybe she would listen. Maybe she'd let herself believe. The words tumbled unbidden, unfiltered, unrestrained.

"My heart belongs to you, Milady. I will never love anyone else - only you. It's like destiny put us together. You literally fell out of the sky into my life and I've loved you ever since. I need you. Say yes to me, please. I know you are scared of what will happen if we tell each other, but - I promise, not even Hawkmoth would ever be able to tear me from you. I love you too much for that. Please."

The small sob that bubbled through her lips stopped his rambled declaration, the curl of her shoulders shaking slightly as she hung her head, turning away from him. He'd pushed too hard. With careful fingers, he dropped his hold on her wrist, letting her free, knowing she'd escape.

Her fingers flexed slightly against her yo-yo.

His heart felt like maybe it would just shatter right then, hope dying into ash as he stepped back in silence. He didn't regret a word he had said. He only felt disappointed that she would never accept him. As if, like always, he wasn't good enough. Tears pricked at his eyes as he watched her, wishing he could read her mind.

"I'm sorry." The whispered words had barely left him when she spun around to look at him, blue eyes wide and wild, a fire of frustration and anger burning in them. Two steps to him and she was there, so close he could feel the heat of her body near his. Her fists were clenched tightly, as if she was prepared to fight - whether him or herself, he couldn't decide as she glared up at him. Moonlight drenched her features in an ethereal light, causing him to breathe in sharply at how beautiful she looked - his angel lady with a spotted red mask.

Trying to control his reaction, he waited as she stood there. At least she wasn't running like she always did.

"You think this is so easy?" she finally said, her voice strained and hollow. "You think I don't want to love you? I do, Chat. I love you. Ok? I love you! But I -" The fire faded and her eyes misted over. His arms wanted to grab her, hold her, keep her, but he didn't dare, forcing himself to stay still, to remember to breathe as she struggled to find the words.

"Chat, we can't. Even if I wanted to. Our lives as superheroes makes it impossible. We can't know each other's identity - you know that. It's too dangerous. You don't understand the pressure I have on me as Ladybug. I can't - I won't - I -" She rested her forehead against his chest, fists pushing against him slightly as she wrestled with herself. "And, Chat, out of this suit…. I'm not Ladybug. I'm a clumsy, impulsive, panic-prone mess. If you knew me like that, you wouldn't love me. You probably wouldn't even see me."

Against him, she shuddered as she sobbed quietly. He stayed frozen, processing it all. She was wrong. So wrong. He knew it. If she could trust him with her life, he would love all of her.

Her arms slipped around his waist, grasping onto him as if he was the anchor keeping her from being torn away in a storm of emotions. Slowly, he let his arms wrap around her, pulling her as close to him as he could and rested his cheek in her hair.

"All I want is to be with you." Her whisper was so faint he almost didn't hear her. His heart froze, stuttering to a stop. "But it's impossible."

"Then let's make it possible," he pleaded softly. "We are in charge of ourselves, no one else. We decide."

She was silent for a moment, pressed against him.

"No, Chat. I'm not the one meant for you."

Violently, she pulled away, breaking out from his hold and spinning on her heels, fingers grasping at the weapon on her hip. He didn't even have a chance to react before she breathed an apology, a quick flick of her hand sent her flying to the next rooftop.

He called her name, reaching after her, brain slow and heart broken into a thousand pieces.

He was wrong. After all these years, it was worse.


	2. Years Later

_I blame the people who begged for a happier ending. Here ::throws short epilogue:: _

* * *

"Marry me."

Her blue eyes widened at his whispered words, almost unheard over the relentless splattering of rain on the dark umbrella held between them. Thunder clattered overheard, rumbling through his chest. Cold droplets of rain battered against his back, plastering his shirt to his skin, but all his attention was drawn to the woman in front of him.

For years they had danced around each other, the pieces of their hearts interwoven together to create an intricate pattern marked by friendship, love, partnership, trust. For years, they had been by each other's sides through good and bad, through happiness and sorrow. They'd grown from the awkwardness of youth to the confidence of adulthood, from hopeless to hopeful, from lost to found. Together.

It had been her that had saved him. She had taught him how to be a friend. She had taught him how to love. She had taught him how to be himself. She had taught him how to be strong when he felt weak. She taught him how to be a hero.

She trusted him with her life, even when she feared for his own. She trusted him with her heart, even when he wasn't sure if he knew what to do with it. She trusted him with her identity, something that she valued more than he could understand. Most of all, she trusted him.

It was she who had been there when his fragile world had crumbled. She who had picked up the fragments of the life he had known and stitched it together into a new one. She who that had held him when he'd cried, when he'd screamed, when he'd given up, and when he'd finally tried to find his feet again.

Nightmares calmed when she was near. The emptiness that threatened to claim him was held back because she gave him a reason to fight. Fears were broken free. His heart could keep beating because her heart beat in rhythm with his. They belonged together, two parts of a whole.

Life without her would be impossible.

He loved her more than his own life. He always had. Mask or no mask.

And so, the words of his heart had tumbled from his lips, wanting to be with her forever.

He forgot how to breathe as blue pulled him in, dragging him into her soul - the home of everything he knew he ever needed: her.

"Yes."

The only word he wanted to hear.

Umbrella forgotten, he pulled her to him as the rain poured onto their heads, rivers of water streaking down their faces as lips met in a promise to love each other forever.


End file.
